The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Kirk
(Life in Poetry, 2014, etc.) offers readers a fast-paced, clearly narrated
history of Christianity, beginning with Jewish tradition and moving quickly to
recountings of the New Testament, Acts, and Epistles.

Although
the extent of Kirk’s research is evident, he keeps his chronological narrative
accessible to any level of reader interested in Christian history. However, in
chapters broken into quick, almost telegraphic paragraphs, his overviews can be
controversial: “Nothing in Jesus’ teaching can be regarded as unique to him,”
he writes in a typically jolting passage. “Any highly intelligent Jewish young
man had been taught to memorize sections of the books of our fathers.” Some
of his summaries will strike even his most open-minded readers as a bit
far-fetched: “Something of a role reversal took place in sexual orientation,
between late adolescent John and Jesus. In his maturity John transformed Jesus
into Holy Wisdom, forever feminine.” Nevertheless, the bulk of his synopses are
straightforward and insightful, cutting through centuries of accumulated
history and commentary with concision and a fair amount of subdued humor, as
when he points out that the Roman Emperor Constantine was “a highly successful
military genius, at a time when Christianity was still a pacifist religion,”
then adding: “His saintliness is questionable.” In particular,Kirk details the complexities of rival
medieval Christian theologies with admirable clarity. Major figures from
Christian history are presented in their historical contexts, which Kirk often
overlays with faith-based details calling out to his intended audience, as when
he tells readers that St. Jerome “lived and worked, largely alone, in a cell
close to the scene of the nativity in Bethlehem, where Almighty God had taken
human form as a baby.” Kirk’s underlying contention is that “True religion engenders
compassionate action,” and his concluding chapter, “Contemporary Christianity,”
paints a picture of a matured and widespread family of religions intent on
bettering the human condition. Generous black-and-white maps and timelines accompany the text.

An
easily accessible overview of Christianity’s remarkable rise and spread.

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